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Depression in Self-Harm Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Jon Ennis ,
Rosemary A. Barnes ,
Sidney Kennedy  and
Dvora D. Trachtenberg
Jon Ennis*
Affiliation:
Toronto General Hospital; University of Toronto
Rosemary A. Barnes
Affiliation:
Women's College Hospital; Toronto, University of Toronto
Sidney Kennedy
Affiliation:
Toronto General Hospital; University of Toronto
Dvora D. Trachtenberg
Affiliation:
Women's College Hospital, Toronto
*
∗Department of Psychiatry, Toronto General Hospital, Eaton Building, Eighth Floor, 200 Elizabeth Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4, Canada
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Abstract

DSM-III diagnoses and responses to the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were examined in 71 consecutive admissions to an inpatient psychiatric crisis service following deliberate self-harm. Although 80% of the admitted patients were moderately or severely depressed according to BDI scores, only 31 % were diagnosed with a major depressive episode. While all of the self-harm patients may be viewed as experiencing severe subjective distress, only a minority were shown to suffer from DSM-III depressive illness. The high depression scores on the BDI may be related to the patients' extreme distress preceding a crisis admission and to the high prevalence of personality disorders in this group of patients.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 154 , Issue 1 , January 1989 , pp. 41 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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